What with all the little things going on in the past few weeks, it was really nice to concentrate on getting them all done and out of the way. Now it’s time to resume some regular posting but we won’t get too staid just yet. Since most of us are still enjoying a long weekend, let’s keep the celebratory spirit going with some fun cemetery articles from around the world.

1. Whimsical, patriotic, serious…here is a terrific post, A Lovely Day for a Trip to the Graveyard, by Dina Fainberg who writes (and photographs) the fabulous carvings found in Russian cemeteries. Sights like these are what inspired me to begin writing this blog because I felt like I was visiting an open-air sculpture park and not a graveyard.

2. A timely followup to the previous post, Redefining the Cemetery Concept, discusses how cemeteries can still remain relevent in today’s society (photography, symbolism discovery, art festivals, even weddings) and points out several unique sites for future visits.

3. If all this cemetery talk is stirring up the ambition to find out more of your family history, check out, Take a Trip to Trace Your Roots. Detailing some of the more well-known sites from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., to the Allen County Library of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the article is a help to those of us who could use a little more direction in our genealogical searches.

4. One caveat to keep in mind is that many online genealogical searches are not cheap and many can snare first-time seekers into paying more than they had originally anticipated. One solution for those living in larger metropolitan areas is to check out their local libraries. Quite often, full-time genealogists are on hand to help out and if they’re not, the libraries will have readily available and free databases.

5. And speaking of searching, Josh Perry still believes in good old-fashioned, gumshoe work. Combining an interest in cemeteries with organized crime, he hunts down gravesites of notorious Chicago gangsters. Check out his Grave Hunting Primer to see how he does it and what he recommends.